Ford Motor Co. will export vehicles from China to the U.S. for the first time starting in 2019.

Ford said Tuesday it plans to move production of its Ford Focus small car from the U.S. to China, where it already makes the Focus for Chinese buyers. Ford will continue to make the Focus in Europe, and will also export some variants of the Focus from Europe to the U.S.

Sales of small cars have dropped sharply in the U.S. and companies are seeking to cut costs making them. Ford’s president of global operations Joe Hinrichs said the move to China will save the company $1 billion, including $500 million for canceling plans to build the Focus in Mexico.

Wary of the response from President Donald Trump, who has criticized Ford for making vehicles outside the U.S., Ford said the move won’t cost U.S. jobs. The suburban Detroit plant that currently makes the Focus will be converted late next year to produce the Ford Ranger pickup and Ford Bronco SUV.

Ford also said Tuesday that it plans to invest $900 million in its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville to make the new, aluminum-sided Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. Those vehicles will go on sale this fall and will be exported to more than 55 markets globally, the company said. The investment will secure 1,000 jobs at the Kentucky plant.

But the White House response was muted. Asked Tuesday whether Trump plans to get tougher on China or on automakers who leave the U.S., White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the president wants to lower business taxes and reform the tax code so businesses will want to “come back to the United States, grow in the United States, manufacture more in the United States.”

Hinrichs said Ford’s research shows that customers — who are used to phones and other gadgets from China —  care more about product quality than where their vehicles are made.

Plans for production of the 2019 Focus — which will be larger and have some significant updates — have bounced around over the last few months as Ford tries to squeeze some profits from the ailing small car segment. U.S. Focus sales were down 20 percent through May, hurt by low gas prices and consumer preference for SUVs.

In January, the company announced it would cancel a new plant in Mexico and instead use capacity at another plant in Mexico to build the Focus. But over the last few months, Hinrichs said, Ford decided it could save another $500 million in tooling and other manufacturing costs if it moved production to China.

Hinrichs said last month’s departure of former CEO Mark Fields had no bearing on the decision, which was in the works for some time.

Hinrichs said Chinese wages are lower than wages in Mexico, although the cost to ship the vehicles erases some of that advantage. It’s still cheaper to make cars for the U.S. in Mexico, he said, but Ford has extra capacity in China and the move frees up capital for the company immediately.

Ford isn’t the first car company to export vehicles to the U.S. from China. Volvo Cars made the move in 2015. General Motors Co. started importing the low-volume Buick Envision midsize SUV from China in 2016. GM also imports some plug-in hybrid-electric Cadillac CT6 sedans from China.

Hinrichs said he didn’t know other automakers’ plans, but as of now, the Focus would be the highest-volume vehicle exported from China to the U.S.

Ford shares fell 1 percent to close at $11.12 Tuesday.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said the death of Otto Warmbier after the college student’s lengthy detention in North Korea was disgraceful and suggested the outcome might have been different had Warmbier been returned home to the United States earlier.

“It’s a total disgrace what happened to Otto,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “That should never, ever be allowed to happen. And, frankly, if he were brought home sooner, I think the result would have been a lot different. But what happened to Otto is a disgrace. And I spoke with his family; his family is incredible what they’ve gone through. But he should have been brought home a long time ago.”

The 22-year-old Warmbier died Monday after being detained in North Korea for nearly a 1½ years. His parents said in a statement he had “completed his journey home” and was “at peace” shortly before passing away.

Condolences

Trump on Monday offered his condolences to the family, saying in a written statement, “There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life.”

He called the North Korean government “a brutal regime” and said the death deepens his determination to prevent future tragedies “at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency.”

Trump suggested last month that he would be “honored” to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, “under the right circumstances.” But White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that with Warmbier’s treatment by North Korea and death within days of his release, “clearly we’re moving further away” from any chance of the two leaders meeting.

Trump previously has pressured Chinese President Xi Jinping to rein in North Korea’s actions. Trump, however, said in a Twitter comment that while he appreciated Beijing’s efforts, “it has not worked out. At least I know China tried,” without elaborating.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said Warmbier’s death will be a lasting reminder of “the barbaric nature of the North Korean leadership.”

Ohio Governor John Kasich said “all Ohioans mourn” the death of Warmbier, a native of Cincinnati.

Kasich, too, lashed out at Pyongyang, saying, “This horrendous situation further underscores the evil, oppressive nature of the North Korean regime.”

Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who worked to free Warmbier, called him a “promising young man,” and said, “his passing today is a loss for Ohio and for all of us.”

Death a ‘tragedy’

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Tuesday Warmbier’s death was a “tragedy” and hoped the United States and North Korea would “handle the matter appropriately.”

Geng declined to comment on whether the death would affect issues regarding the North’s nuclear program, but encouraged “all sides” to resume negotiations as soon as possible.

Congressman Adam Schiff, the top-ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, called for enactment of a law to place “effective limits on the travel of Americans to this pariah state, and to ban tourist travel entirely” to North Korea.

Spicer said the U.S. is considering additional advisories on travel to the reclusive country.

The organizers of Warmbier’s trip to North Korea say they will no longer take U.S. citizens to the country.

Young Pioneer Tours posted on its Facebook page Tuesday that Warmbier’s death indicates the risk that American tourists face in North Korea “has become too high.”

Warmbier was returned to the U.S. last week in a coma. Doctors in Cincinnati said he had suffered severe brain damage while in North Korea, but that it was not clear what caused it.

North Korea said Warmbier fell into a coma shortly after he was sentenced in March of last year for stealing a political poster from a hotel there. The government claimed the young man fell into a coma after contracting botulism and being given a sleeping pill.

The Warmbier family disputed that claim, saying North Korea had “brutalized” him.

“Unfortunately, the awful torturous treatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” the family statement said.

Tensions between the United States and North Korea have been heightened by dozens of North Korean missile launches and two nuclear bomb tests since the beginning of last year.

U.S. officials have said they are concerned about three Korean-Americans who remain held in North Korea. At least six South Koreans are believed to be in custody as well.

South Korea on Tuesday said it will make every effort to obtain the quick return of its detainees and the U.S. citizens being held in North Korea.

The U.S. government accuses North Korea of using the detainees as political pawns. North Korea accuses the United States and South Korea of sending spies to overthrow its government.
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The parents of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who died Monday after being detained in North Korea for nearly a year and a-half, said in a statement he had “completed his journey home” and was “at peace” shortly before passing away.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday offered his condolences to the family, saying in a written statement, “There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life.” Trump called the North Korean government “a brutal regime” and said the death deepens his determination to prevent future tragedies “at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency.”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said Warmbier’s death will be a lasting reminder of “the barbaric nature of the North Korean leadership.”

Ohio Governor John Kasich said “all Ohioans mourn” the death of Warmbier, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. He, too, lashed out at Pyongyang, saying, “This horrendous situation further underscores the evil, oppressive nature of the North Korean regime.”

Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who worked to free Warmbier, called him a “promising young man,” and said “his passing today is a loss for Ohio and for all of us.”

Returned in coma

Warmbier was returned to the United States last week in a coma. Doctors in Cincinnati said the 22-year-old had suffered severe brain damage while in North Korea, but that it was not clear what caused it.

North Korea said Warmbier fell into a coma soon after he was sentenced in March of last year for stealing a political poster from a North Korean hotel. The government claimed the young man fell into a coma after contracting botulism and being given a sleeping pill.

But the Warmbier family heatedly disputed that claim, saying North Korea had “brutalized” Otto.

“Unfortunately, the awful torturous treatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” the family statement said.

Tensions heightened

Tensions between the United States and North Korea have been heightened by dozens of North Korean missile launches and two nuclear bomb tests since the beginning of last year.

U.S. officials have said they are concerned about three Korean-Americans who remain held in North Korea. There are also at least six South Koreans believed to be in custody as well.

South Korea on Tuesday said it will make every effort for the quick return of its detainees and the U.S. citizens being held in North Korea.

The U.S. government accuses North Korea of using the detainees as political pawns. North Korea accuses the United States and South Korea of sending spies to overthrow its government.

The organizers of Warmbier’s trip to North Korea say they will no longer take U.S. citizens to the country. Young Pioneer Tours posted on its Facebook page Tuesday that Warmbier’s death indicates the risk of American tourists face in North Korea “has become too high.”

 
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Australia says it will move classified government information from a private data center in Sydney after a Chinese consortium bought a major stake in the company. The move comes despite assurances from the company, Global Switch, that its files are secure.

Global Switch owns two secure data facilities in downtown Sydney, and stores classified Australian government defense and intelligence files.

Its ownership changed in December when its UK-based parent company accepted a $3 billion bid from Chinese investors for a 49 percent stake in the Sydney-based firm. Among the investors was an entrepreneur who owns part of China’s leading data enterprise, the Daily Tech.

In response, Australian officials said they would move classified files from the private storage facility to a state-run data unit when its current contract expires in 2020, despite a promise from Global Switch that its services are secure.

Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a respected think tank, says the government in Canberra is right to be wary of China’s cyber capabilities.

“China is certainly up there with Russia and Iran and North Korea as being amongst the most active cyber espionage entities. It is looking to steal information,” he said. “Increasingly I think China is building a capability to actually go in and do damage to critical infrastructure through cyber means as well.”

The government says Australia is increasingly a target for cybercrime and espionage, and has warned that cyberspace was “under persistent threat.”

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said cyber security was “the new frontier of warfare” and announced new measures to protect Australian democracy from foreign interference.

Last October, Canberra revealed a foreign power had managed to install malicious software on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s computer system to steal sensitive documents and compromise other government networks. Officials did not identify the country suspected of the breach, but security analysts pointed the finger at China.

 
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U.S. student Otto Warmbier’s tragic death Monday, after being released from a North Korean prison in a coma, has again put an international focus on the widespread human rights violations allegedly being committed by the Kim Jong Un government.

“This is a government that frankly is a human rights abomination. It is a human rights black hole,” said Phil Robertson, the Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.

In January of 2016, Warmbier was arrested in Pyongyang for allegedly attempting to steal a propaganda poster at a hotel. He was sentenced to 15 years hard labor, then fell into a coma 15 months ago from which he never awoke.

North Korean officials said the 22-year-old American university student contracted botulism while in custody and was given a sleeping pill that put him into a comatose state. Doctors at the hospital in Cincinnati, where he was being treated after being released, discounted the North Korean account but could not say what caused the severe neurological injury.

“Unfortunately, the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” the family said in a statement following his death.

Condolences and outrage

U.S. President Donald Trump offered his condolences to the family in a statement Monday saying, “There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life.”

The president also said the death deepens his determination to prevent future tragedies “at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency.”

Other U.S. officials issued similar statements of sympathy for the family and outrage at what they described as Warmbier’s brutal, inhumane treatment by the North Korean government.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in issued a statement offering “condolence and consolation” to Warmbier’s family, and also condemned North Korea for detaining foreign nationals without regard for human rights guaranteed under international law.

“North Korea is still detaining our citizens and American citizens, and it needs to return them to their families immediately, and our government will put utmost effort for this,” said South Korean Presidential Office spokesman Park Soo-hyun.

There are six South Koreans currently imprisoned in North Korea. Some were missionaries who were charged with spying and others were reportedly kidnapped by North Korean agents while helping defectors on the Chinese side of the border.

U.S. officials have said they are concerned about three Korean-Americans who remain held in North Korea. The U.S. government accuses North Korea of using such detainees as political pawns. North Korea accuses Washington and South Korea of sending spies to overthrow its government.

Atrocities at home

“The North Korean regime also wages war on their own citizens,” said Marion Smith, the director of The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, in a statement on Monday.

A 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) report documented ongoing atrocities in North Korea comparable to those committed by Nazi Germany.

Among the findings:

* Between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners are currently detained in four large political prison camps.

*The use of torture is an established feature of the interrogation process.

*Persons who are found to have engaged in major political crimes are “disappeared,” without trial or judicial order, to political prison camps known as kwanliso.

*The inmate population has been gradually eliminated through deliberate starvation, forced labor, executions, torture, rape and the denial of reproductive rights enforced through punishment, forced abortion and infanticide.

*The policy of regularly carrying out public executions serves to instill fear in the general population.

 “The ruling Kim Dynasty has shown time and time again that they have no regard for human rights. They have no regard for human life, and that whatever is necessary for them to hold onto power, they will do,” said Robertson.

Warmbier’s brutal treatment and tragic death, Robertson said, should motivate the international community to renew efforts to hold the Kim Jong Un government accountable for the widespread atrocities being committed in the repressive and opaque state.

Based on the 2014 COI report, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, but the measure has since been stalled in the Security Council, where the North’s allies, China and Russia, are believed to be preventing any further action in this measure.

Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
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The United Nations Refugee Day (June 20) seeks to bring attention to the unprecedented number of refugees worldwide. More than 65 million people have been displaced from their homes, mostly by war and violence, and more than 22 million of them are refugees. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports that refugees are supported largely by donations, and those are growing short.
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The United States wants China to become more involved in supporting the global fight against terrorism and efforts to defeat Islamic State, including in Iraq, a senior U.S. official said on Monday ahead of high-level security talks with Beijing.

Susan Thornton, the U.S. acting assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said that China has taken only a limited role in counter-terrorism efforts, although it appeared to be becoming more interested.

“We would like to see them step up and take more responsibility,” Thornton told reporters as Washington and China’s diplomatic and defense chiefs prepared for a meeting in the U.S. capital on Wednesday.

“They have a lot of interests, for example in Iraq, and we think they should be doing to more to contribute to the efforts of the international coalition to defeat ISIS [Islamic State],” she said.

Thornton said Beijing, which is not a member of the 68-member coalition, was increasingly affected by terrorism, as was seen by the recent killing of two Chinese nationals in Pakistan.

Beijing has sent out “early feelers” about getting more involved, Thornton said.

“We’d like to have a good discussion with them about what more we think they can do, certainly in the way of providing resources to governments that are battling against terrorism and trying to help with capacity-building for governments and security forces in various places,” she added.

Wednesday’s talks will involve U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis as well as China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and General Fang Fenghui, chief of state of the People’s Liberation Army.

The State Department says they will focus on ways to step up pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs, but also cover areas such as counter-terrorism and territorial rivalries in the strategic South China Sea.

The United States has been at odds with China over the latter’s building and fortifying of islands in the disputed waterway.

Thornton said now that there were moves towards agreeing a code of conduct over the South China Sea, Washington would like to see a freeze on all such construction activity.

She reiterated a call on China to fully implement U.N. sanctions on North Korea and, while praising Beijing for imposing a ban on North Korean coal imports, added: “We would like to see China do more.”
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